Celebrating 10 Years in Seattle

Since we did a big trip last year for Rog's graduation, we decided to just do a quick weekend getaway to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. 

On our way up to Seattle, we stopped at Salt and Straw. It was the last day of their April flavors and there were a few I wanted to try. Rog got Apple Frosting Caramel Crackers and I got Lemon and Lime. They were both amazing and all the desserts we had in Seattle seriously suffered in comparison.

We stayed at a hotel downtown (La Quinta Inn & Suites Downtown) that was within walking distance to a lot of the big tourist attractions. Friday was going to be the better weather day, so we planned to spend our day walking to all the downtown spots on our hit list. We slept in, had breakfast at our hotel (free and pretty good), and then I got ready and planned our day while Rog took a nap. He had some caffeine to stay awake on our drive to Seattle and hadn't sleep well. Then we walked to Pike Place.

We got lunch at Beecher's. Rog had a ham and cheese sandwich and I had the "World's Best" Mac & Cheese. We walked all over the market trying to find somewhere to sit down to eat. We eventually found this spot that didn't really have a table or place to sit down, but had a good view.

We got an apple cinnamon roll from the Piroshky Bakery and walked down to the Great Wheel. 

We enjoyed the views from the Great Wheel, but I think it actually would have been more fun with the kids. After riding the Great Wheel, we were both really thirsty, so we paid something like $1 to get some good ice cold water. We stopped at the gum wall for a quick picture and I took my sweatshirt off for the first and only time that day.

Then we walked to a theatre (Regal Meridian 16) downtown to see Beauty and the Beast. I had seen it with Peyton, but Rog hadn't yet. We had a few minutes before our movie started, so we FaceTimed the kids while we were waiting. It was just as good the second time and Rog enjoyed it too.

We went to Din Tai Fung for dinner. We were warned there would be a long wait and there was, but we happened to get two seats at the bar without having to wait. We got one of the pork dumplings and it was pretty good, but our favorites were the pork fried noodles and the green beans. I'd go as far to say the green beans were the best thing we ate in Seattle!

We walked over to the Space Needle and enjoyed the sunset from the top. 

The sunset was beautiful, but the best part was happening to be at the right place at the right time to watch a couple get engaged!

We walked back to our hotel and then got in the car for the only time that day to drive over to Hello Robin for dessert. We had to wait in a long line and unlike Salt and Straw, it was not worth it. We both thought the cookies might have been good, but they were way too hard!

We played a couple rounds of Monopoly Deal before falling asleep for the night.

We had planned to go to the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum before or after the Space Needle, but ran out of time. So we got an earlier start Saturday morning and walked back over there. It was well worth the second walk. I'm glad we didn't skip it especially since it was a good one to do without kids! 

We walked back to our hotel and drove over to the Bengal Tiger for lunch. They had a lunch buffet going on, so we got to sample a bunch of things. It was good, but I think it might have been better not as a buffet with the food brought piping hot and fresh to your table. (For me, it suffered in comparison to an Indian buffet I went to with my sister in Denver.) 

We drove over to the Seattle Temple and did sealings (and took a less than flattering selfie on our way out). 

The temple didn't take as long as we had anticipated, so we had some time to kill before dinner. I had been referring to this post about things to do in Seattle and we decided on a whim to go see the Amazon bookstore. When we got there we realized we had been to an Amazon bookstore in Portland while waiting for our table at Cheesecake Factory. (Janssen mentions in her post that the Seattle Amazon bookstore is the only one and it's possible it was at the time, but clearly that's not the case anymore.) We had a good laugh about how we both had apparently completely forgotten about it! It wasn't a complete loss though because I discovered the Disney Princess Beginnings books that we are enjoying so much while we were looking around.

Since we were so close we decided to drive over to the University of Washington and see the Husky Clipper, the boat that the crew team won the 1936 Olympics in. Unfortunately since it was a Saturday afternoon, the Conibear Shellhouse was completely deserted and the dining hall where the boat hangs was locked. We saw it through the window, but we'll have to go back to see it again when the dining hall is actually open!

We did find a plaque to take my picture with.

And we walked around the building to see the docks on the lake where the crew practices.

(I'm very slowly making my way through The Boys in the Boat, but it keeps getting overshadowed by other more exciting books.)

On our way to dinner we stopped to see the Fremont Troll.

Ever since reading Delancey: A Man, a Woman, a Restaurant, a Marriage, I had dreamed of going to Delancey for dinner and this was my big chance to make it happen! I got the white pie and Rog got the sausage pizza and we both thoroughly enjoyed them - even Rog who had been less than enthusiastic about going there for dinner because he typically doesn't enjoy "fancy" pizza.

When we got back to the hotel we decided to walk over to Pike Place for dessert. Unfortunately by the time we got there most of the restaurants were already closed or closing for the night. We ended up at Shug's Soda Fountain which was a cute little ice cream shop. We originally ordered the Kitty Canutt Sundae, but they were out of cinnamon ice cream, so we decided to get a Shugsicle instead. I'm pretty sure we would have enjoyed the sundae more, so we'll have to go back next time we visit to try that one out.

We walked back to our hotel and discovered we could see the Space Needle from our little balcony. Then we tried to watch Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but ended up falling asleep instead.

The next morning we packed up our stuff and planned to quickly grab breakfast and go to a nearby sacrament meeting before driving home. My hands were full and since I was wearing a dress, I didn't have any pockets to put my phone in. I had set it on the top of the suitcase I was pulling and had put something on top of it, so I forgot it was there. When I was getting out of the elevator, it fell off and slid down the crack in the elevator door. Fortunately it only fell one floor, but unfortunately only the elevator company could get it out. Long story short I ended up getting it back about a month later (maybe a little less) and it was fine, but gah, don't drop your phone down an elevator shaft! It's annoying how much we rely on that little piece of technology!

So, we had our breakfast (while I shed more than a few tears over my phone) and we made it to a different sacrament meeting (left after the sacrament) and drove home. 

That night for dessert I made sprinkle cookies, so we could have ice cream cookie sandwiches with SOFT cookies and all was right in the world again. (Well, not quite all. I was still missing my phone!)

The next morning we dropped my parents off at the airport and sent my mom home to have her double mastectomy done. 😳  

Despite the phone mishap, it was a great weekend! It's nice to have such a fun city so close to visit!